You've never seen a commercial or a print advertisement for Ted Baker clothes, because the proprieter doesn't advertise the line of clothing and shoes. Instead, Ted Baker (aka Ray Kelvin, the line's founder and media-shy managing director) has relied on word of mouth and his global business skills to propel his line and stand-alone stores to international success.

Ted Baker started out as a shirt specialist in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1987, he got the idea to expand his small business until a global phenomenon. With a customer-centric philosophy - his first stores offered laundry service for every shirt purchased - and top-of-the line products, Baker remains the only international designer label without an advertising campaign.

However, he is not without a marketing plan. His stores offer out-of-the-ordinary promotions. For example, he has given away Paxo stuffing during the Christmas season, cans of bunny hotpot for Easter (I guess you know what that is if you're British) and special World Cup 2006 soccer cards.

In 1993, Ted Baker launched his famous Blue Baker line, and in 1996, he entered the United States market at Magic, a Las Vegas fashion trade show, and, within the next two years, he opened his first store outside of the United Kingdom in Zurich, Switzerland, took his company public and opened his first American store in New York. Finally, in 2000, the Ted Baker footwear line was up and running, cementing Ted Baker shoes as a force to be reckoned with in the footwear industry.

Now, Ted Baker's signature women's and men's clothing, shoes and accessories can be found in stand-alone stores (whose eccentricity perfectly matches the personality of Ted Baker's reclusive, but oh, so business savvy founder) in New York, Dallas and Los Angeles, throughout the United Kingdom, and Asia, as well as in department stores and online.

Ted Baker's slogan is "No Ordinary Designer Label," and I think we can all agree with that claim. Despite unorthodox business philosophies, the clothes are pretty damn chic and will likely make you want to defect to the United Kingdom, drink afternoon tea, develop a faux-British accent and have eccentrically-named children. Hey, Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow did it. In Ted Baker gear, you can do it, too. But, you know. Not really.